Business Abbreviations:

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AD ------(Latin: Anno Domini), In the Year of Our Lord; referring to the Gregorian calendar system. ad ------advertisement a. m., A.M. ------(Latin: ante meridiem), before noon. Amex ------American Express APEC ------Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation a.s.a.p. ------as soon as possible A. T.M. ------automatic (automated) teller machine att. ------attached attn. ------attention

B. A. ------Bachelor of Arts, banker’s acceptance BBC ------British Broadcasting Corporation BC ------Before Christ B.Sc. ------Bachelor of Science

CA ------Chartered Accountant (British), circa, California (US postal abbreviation), Canada (top level internet domain). C.A.D. ------computer-aided design, the use of computers in making drawings and models, in calculating quantities and costs of materials, in storing information, when designing buildings. C.E.O. ------Chief Executive Officer CEPA ------Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (Mainland China-Hong Kong) Cf., cf. ------(Latin: conferatur), compare. c. i.f. ------cost, insurance and freight c.c. ------carbon copy C.I.D. ------Criminal Investigation Department, in Britain and Hong Kong. c/o ------care of Co. ------Company

1 com. ------commercial, commission, communication. CPA ------Certified Public Accountant (U.S.) CPU ------Central Processing Unit (part of a computer system)

DJ ------Disc Jockey doz. ------dozen Dr. ------doctor, director.

e.g. ------(Latin: exempli gratia), for example. Encl. ------enclosure, enclosed. EQ ------Emotional Quotient etc. ------(Latin: et cetera), and the others, and the rest, and so on.

fax, fac ------facsimile f.o.b. ------free on board FX ------foreign exchange (forex)

Govt., govt. ------government GMT ------Greenwich mean time, replaced on 1 January 1972 by coordinated universal time (UTC) GST ------Greenwich Standard Time, Goods and Services Tax G.P. ------general practitioner, family doctor. G.P.O. ------General Post Office

Hi-Fi ------High Fidelity Hon. ------Honorable, honorary hp, h.p. ------horsepower H.Q. ------headquarters

ib., ibid. ------(Latin: ibidem), in the same place. IBM ------International Business Machines Corporation IC ------Integrated Circuit

2 ICAC ------Independent Commission Against Corruption I.D. ------identification IDD ------International Direct Dialing i.e. ------(Latin: id est), that is to say.

IMO ------In my opinion; in memory of. Inc. ------Incorporated, in U.S.A., when placed after the name of a company, the word means that the company is a legal personality called a corporation. Interpol ------International Criminal Police Organization 國際刑事警察 組織 I.Q. ------intelligence quotient, a measure of intelligence. IT ------Information Technology

KFC ------Kentucky Fried Chicken Kg., kg ------Kilogram (mass) Kiwi ------Capitalized : New Zealander; the name of the flightless bird which is used as a national emblem. Not an abbreviation.

L.A.N. ------local area network, a computer network that covers a limited geographical area, e.g., a single building. L/C, L.C. ------letter of credit, a letter from one party, usually a bank, to another party, usually also a bank, by which a third party, usually a customer named in the letter, is given the right to obtain the money, credit or goods he may need, up to a stated value, for which the writer of the letter takes responsibility. Ltd. ------Limited, in Britain, the word that must by law be placed as the last word of the name of a limited liability company , or p.l.c., as public limited company. The U.S.A. equivalent is Incorporated.

M. B.A. ------Master of Business Administration M.D. ------doctor of medicine, managing director

3 memo. ------memorandum mfg. ------manufacturing min. ------minute, minimum misc. ------miscellaneous mkt. ------market m. , mo. ------month Mr. ------a polite title given to a man and placed before his name or position, Mister, Master. Mrs. ------a polite title given to a married woman and placed before her name; abbreviation of Mistress, the feminine of Mister or Master, originally applied to both married and unmarried women. Miss ------used as a title prefixed to the name of an unmarried woman or girl; abbreviation of Mistress. Ms. ------a polite title that may be used in written or spoken form when it is not known whether the woman concerned is married, probably blend of Miss and Mrs.; Ms. originated in the United States and was popularized in the 1970s; abbreviation of Mistress. Messrs. ------plural form of Mr. Mesdames, Mmes ------plural form of Mrs., Madam, or Madame Misses ------plural form of Miss Mss., Mses. ------plural form of Ms.

N/A. ------not applicable, not available. NATO ------North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Brussels, Belgium) NB, N.B. ------(Latin: nota bene), note well, mark well; used to call attention to something important. nil ------(Latin: nihil, nihilum), nothing. No. ------number

OEM ------Original Equipment Manufacturer/Manufacturing 原來設備 製造商 OK, O.K. ------oll korrect, okay, all correct

4 p. ------page pp. ------pages P.C. ------personal computer, police constable PIN ------personal identification number p. m., P.M. ------(Latin: post meridiem), after noon P.O. ------post office, postal order P.O.Box ------post office box p. p., per pro ------(Latin: per procurationem), (signing) for and on behalf of. pk., pkg., pkge. ------package P.L.C., plc ------(Britain) public limited company P.R. ------public relations Pres., pres. ------president, the chief executive officer of a company in U.S.A., the equivalent of the chairman of the board of directors in Britain. pro. ------a professional Prof. ------professor PS ------postscript, words added, usually at the bottom, to a letter after it has been written or typed. Pte. ------private limited company

Q.C. ------Queen’s Counsel, in Britain, a barrister who has been appointed by the Lord Chancellor to take precedence over other barristers. Q.C. ------quality control quot. ------quotation

RADAR ------Radio Detection And Ranging R. & D. ------research and development, two closely related activities in modern industry, by which new products and processes are being continually developed. Rd. ------Road Re, re ------with reference to, with regard to, concerning, in the

5 matter of recd., rec’d. ------received Ref., ref. ------reference, referee, refunding reg. ------registered, registration Rep., rep. ------representative, report Revd. ------Reverend R. O.I. ------return on investment R.S.V.P. ------(French: repondez s’il vous plait), meaning please reply, usually written in the abbreviated form at the bottom of an invitation, to show that the sender expects the addressee to reply, stating whether or not he accepts the invitation. It is considered to be bad manners not to reply.

S.A.E., s.a.e. ------stamped addressed envelope SASE ------self-addressed, stamped envelope SMS ------short messaging system, or short message service S.O.S., SOS ------a call for help by a person in trouble, or a group of persons in very great danger of death. It is understood in all languages. It is not an acronym. A common misconception is that SOS means Save Our Ship/Souls (a distress call); the letters don't actually stand for anything. Sq. ------square, open space in a town. sq. ------square (measurement) Sr. ------Senior, sister St. ------street, saint, strait Stg. ------Sterling, the name given to the British pound.

Tel., tel. ------telephone, telegram, telegraph. temp. ------temporary, temperature T. T., t.t. ------telegraphic transfer, a quick way of sending money by cabled bank transfer to a person in another country. T. V. ------television

6 UFO ------Unidentified Flying Object UK ------United Kingdom UN ------United Nations USA ------United States of America UTC ------Coordinated Universal Time, or Universal Time Coordinated. UTC is derived from International Atomic Time (TAI), which is a time scale tracking proper time on the rotating surface of the Earth. (see GMT and GST)

v. , vs. ------(Latin: versus), against. V. C.R. ------video cassette recorder V.I.P. ------very important person viz., viz ------(videlicet, which itself is a contraction from Latin of "videre licet"), meaning: namely, that is, that is to say, as follows. Viz. is usually read aloud as "that is," "namely," "to wit," or pronounced as "viz." In contradistinction to i.e. and e.g., viz. is used to indicate a detailed description of something stated before, and when it precedes a list of group members, it implies (near) completeness.

Wi-Fi ------Wireless Fidelity. Wi-Fi is a class of wireless local area network (WLAN) devices based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. The term Wi-Fi was first used commercially in August 1999. WTO ------World Trade Organization (now the United Nations World Trade Organization, UNWTO)

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